The Living End
by Sleepwalker
Summary: It's Ravi's birthday, and Valia takes him out to a dance club to celebrate. She invites a curious Obi-Wan along too, because she figures he can always stand some more fun.


Title: The Living End

Author: Sleepwalker

Category: PWP/comedy/implied slash

Time: sometime shortly after FF, around the same time as 'Birthday Cake' ( 6-7 years before TPM/Episode I)

Warnings: sexual discussion and innuendoes

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: None at this point any more.

Disclaimers: Coruscant, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn are property of George Lucas, and I did just a tiny bit of borrowing from Brian Daly. Everything else belongs to my own jumbled mind. No profit was gained from this, except a couple of snickers here and there. The surgeon who hopefully never performs surgery on my back may some day profit from all this sitting in front of the computer.

Summary: It's Ravi's birthday, and his friend Valia takes him out to a dance club to celebrate. She invites a curious Obi-Wan along too, because she figures he can always stand some more fun. Ravi sees a potential birthday present to himself.

Author's notes: I know, welcome to Spin-off City. This one's for Yvonne, who just had to ask 'what if something went just a little further…?' Also, this is in no way meant to characterize or stereotype any person of any certain sexual preference. Ravi is simply being Ravi.

Zen sayings or Jedi sayings? Seems they might work for each other. Who knows, maybe the Jedi taught the Zen masters what they know. Anyway, Obi-Wan quotes something from Tao Te Ching and Bhagavad Gita.

Someone brushed closely behind him in the crowd and smartly pinched his left buttock. Obi-Wan stiffened and clamped down the impulse to turn around. Be cool, act normal. Act as though this happens all the time when you come to these places. Sure, he thought indignantly, his butt cheek still probably bearing the imprint of whoever had so freely sampled a feel of his anatomy.

Here he was for the first time, amid a throng of excited young club-hoppers on the street at the entrance to a popular dance club that went by the lurid, red and purple-lit name of The Living End. He moved along with the rest of the crowd beneath the glowing letters toward the entrance. Valia and her friend Ravi were in front of him, leading the way. Ravi was nearly hopping with excitement. Valia coolly made her way through the tight crowd. The body heat and the miasma of artificial scents and natural odors nearly overwhelmed Obi-Wan. That, and being so close to so many living beings. Clothing and limbs and bodies brushed against him. He took a deep breath and calmed himself against the threat of sensory overload.

Obi-Wan had been a little surprised when Qui-Gon had allowed him to go along on this night out. In fact, he had almost encouraged it. Qui-Gon usually allowed his padawans a considerable amount of freedom when it came to life experiences, one more thing that drew the Council's attention to him at times. There just had to be a point to the experience, that was all. Qui-Gon had mentioned it would be safe enough for someone Obi-Wan's age, and with his abilities. But then the other reason became crystal clear. "Stay close to Valia, Obi-Wan, and see that nothing happens to her," he had said. "But don't hover. She will be quick to say she does not need a body guard, and she'll immediately suspect me behind this."

"Yes, Master."

Qui-Gon had contemplatively clasped his hands behind his back and looked out over the city from the open-air gallery in the Temple they were standing in. "I sometimes get concerned about her," he said off-handedly. But Obi-Wan clearly heard and understood: I am not supposed to be, but am crazy in love with that woman, and worry about her incessantly, but I know I'll smother her if I personally guard every hair on her head, or keep her from living her life the way she wants. So cover for me.

Maybe Obi-Wan had asked one too many question of Valia when he had expressed his curiosity about these dance clubs and night spots that sounded so…well, all right, the word was exciting. A Jedi was not to crave adventure and excitement. He had known that since he was five years old, but a Jedi still had to learn about the universe around him, didn't he? Why, exactly, were these things to be put aside? After a few of his questions she had suddenly brightened and suggested she take him to one. It could be a learning experience, and she usually took Ravi out somewhere for his birthday anyway, so why not go along?

He had had about enough excitement before they had even made it past the entrance to the place. It was like a cave inside, dark and high-ceilinged, filled with even more sweaty, young, excitedly laughing people of various species. The music, if it could be called that, was booming up through the floor. There seemed to be no tune, just a gut-pounding beat. He followed closely behind Valia, as she in turn followed Ravi on a winding course through knots of partying people. He glanced around. There were multicolored holograms flashing near the ceiling, not pictures really, just a hallucinogenic mix of colors and shapes. There were females of several species dancing and gyrating on suspended platforms at different levels high above the main floor. Strategically worn scraps of sparkling material covered their most intimate parts, but Obi-Wan wondered if the wrong dance move might possibly be their undoing. He snapped his head back down and forward, not wanting to be seen staring open-mouthed into the air.

Somehow they managed to find a small empty table two or three levels above the main floor, tucked into an enclosure surrounded by planters.

"This is so far away from the action," complained Ravi.

"Let's just take it. As if you're going to be sitting here for any length of time anyway," Valia said, waving an arm to catch the attention of a waiter droid. "It's quieter here." They still had to nearly yell to be heard above the pulsing thud of the music.

"Water?" An aghast Ravi exclaimed at Obi-Wan after their orders had been taken. "No, I don't think so, my friend." He signaled the droid to come back and ordered a shocking number of exotic alcoholic drinks and shots.

"I don't drink," said Obi-Wan.

"Sure, sure," said Ravi indolently waving his hand. "That's what they all say at first."

"But--"

"No, no, I insist. It's party time, it's all on me. Let the good times roll, I say!" He threw his head back and let out a wild whoop. Several other randomly scattered people answered back with whoops of their own.

"I like your clothes, Obi-Wan. Very nice," complimented Valia.

"Thanks. Do I…you know, fit in?"

"Oh sure! Very understated, but then that's you perfectly."

'Dress to impress', Valia had said the dress code was when he wondered what to wear in a place like this. He had abandoned his usual sand and brown Jedi clothing and chosen gray-blue pants, calf-height boots in the same color and an off-white shirt. A simple sash around the waist in the same material as the pants completed the outfit. He had thought the Jedi clothing would have only stood out more, rather than help blend in. Especially in a place like this.

Valia was telling the truth when she said understated. He still could have blended into the walls or floor here had he wanted to. Which perhaps was his deep down desire, after all. He felt completely out of place. Valia was wearing a skin-tight silver bodysuit, which left very little to the imagination. Her face was decorated with bright metallic face paint in a starburst pattern over one eye and cheek. Her hair was improbably twisted into a vertical spiral creation that towered outrageously above her head. He hardly recognized her as the same woman he knew who owned the fruit and juice bar south of the Jedi Temple. What Obi-Wan wouldn't have given to see Qui-Gon's reaction if he could see his lady friend right about now. The suit's neckline plunged between her breasts, and Obi-Wan was ashamed to discover he had to make a conscious effort to keep his eyes off all that skin and the suit. Still, as much as she bared, it was downright dowdy and conservative compared to what some of the other club-goers were wearing. There were people in the immediate area wearing just barely enough to avoid violating the most loose city ordinances. He felt even more discomfort resting his eyes on them.

Ravi's attention shifted back to Obi-Wan from scanning the crowd when Valia had called attention to his clothes. He smiled widely, white teeth flashing in his tan face. "Oh yeah, nice. But you know, it's warm in here, and only going to get warmer. I'd be unbuttoning that shirt just one more button, I think. I know clothes, if I do say so myself, and that style of shirt is meant to be worn open."

Ravi's own shirt was open nearly to his waist. It wasn't so much a shirt as a vest. He was dressed head to toe in black. His pants were of some type of close-fitting leather. Very close-fitting. His thick black hair was tousled with some kind of gel with fine glitter in it, and he wore a frightening amount of black eye liner, Obi-Wan thought. Obi-Wan shrugged and undid the top of his shirt. Ravi smiled even wider and nodded approvingly. Valia's left eyebrow raised, but then she looked away scanning the crowd too, for familiar faces.

"I really think it's going to be a hot one in here tonight," said Ravi. "One more button, and you'll be all set. I guarantee it. That's the style of the moment. I know how hot this joint can get when it gets jumping."

Well, it seemed the proper thing to do to fit in here was to expose as much skin as possible. What harm could there be in opening his shirt a little more? It was warm in here. Obi-Wan unfastened one more button and flicked the edges of the cloth so that the shirt lay open to bare his chest. Ravi made a small purring sound of satisfaction and leaned back into the cushions of the booth, his dark eyes glittering.

Valia cleared her throat and aimed a look at Ravi. "What?" he looked affronted and spread a hand over his chest in a 'who, little old me?' look back at her. "Hey, see anyone we know? Or don't want to know?" he asked her, abruptly switching subjects.

"Not yet. Take it easy, I don't think she ever comes here."

"Ha! Wouldn't that be a scream if she did come in here tonight? Ahhh, here we are." He broke off as a droid laden with a heavy tray of garishly colored drinks hovered to the table. It took them several minutes to unload the tray. Ravi waved a small credit rod at the droid's eye, and it flew away after an acknowledging beep.

"Ravi, this is supposed to be your birthday treat."

"You can get the next round. No offense, love, but I don't want to make you pay for the amount I want to drink tonight. I think I want to get pasted!"

"Ravi…"

"Bottoms up!" He raised a goblet full of amber liquid into the air, and drained it in three or four swallows. He set the glass back down and let out a satisfied sigh. He reached for another one. "And just for you, my dear, your favorite," he smiled at Valia and handed her a tall pale green drink. "Help yourself," Ravi gestured toward Obi-Wan. "No, wait, I think you should try this one. It matches the color of your eyes. If you don't mind me saying so, they're fascinating," he said pushing an aquamarine-colored drink toward him.

"Really, thank you, but I---"

"Oh, try it, please? Please tell me your Jedi code of ethics doesn't forbid you from at least trying it."

"It really doesn't, but we don't drink alcohol on principle."

"Oh, we forgot to tell you!" Ravi leaned forward halfway over the table. "We all checked our principles at the front door when we paid to get in." He laughed, throwing his head back to expose the long line of his throat. Obi-Wan glanced at Valia, who silently mouthed the word 'pretend' behind a slim hand. Obi-Wan reached for the drink, and made a toasting motion toward Ravi. "To the birthday boy, then." Ravi grinned as Obi-Wan tipped the drink back and made as though to swallow. He only let a drop or two slip past his lips, a token taste to please the persistent young man, and also to satisfy his curiosity.

The alcohol bit his tongue and drowned out whatever other flavors there might have been in the drink. It must have been at least half ethanol. He willed his face into a nonchalant expression as the end of his tongue burned. He swallowed as though he had taken a healthy swig and set the glass down. Those snapping black eyes were grinning at him again. Did he guess he had only pretended to drink? Why is he giving me so much attention, Obi-Wan wondered. Probably it's only because I'm completely new at this whole club experience, and he's been doing it for years.

When he felt the foot brush against his leg, he thought nothing of it at first. The table was rather small, and all three of them were sitting fairly close. He stiffened with surprise when he realized the brushing had a deliberate feel to it. Up the side of his leg and back down again, as though testing the curve of the muscle. What---Why---? He forced his face to betray no reaction when he felt himself begin to scowl. It wasn't Valia, because the foot was at the wrong angle to be hers. Why would she do something like that anyway? That left Ravi. Why would he do something like that? Ravi wasn't even looking his way. He was wearing an extremely self-satisfied smile and looking at Valia. Maybe he thought it was her leg he was caressing. There wasn't much room to maneuver, but Obi-Wan backed up and moved his leg out of reach.

"If you'll both excuse me, I'm feeling a bit restless. I'm going to prowl," Ravi said.

Your legs are certainly restless, thought Obi-Wan.

"Prowl to your heart's content," said Valia.

"I don't have to prowl any distance at all from this table to find something that might content my heart." He winked at Valia.

Valia threw another one of those odd dark looks at him. "Hey, your make-up has a smudge," she pointed out.

"Where? Won't you please, please fix it for me?"

"Here, let me see what I've got." Valia produced a small pouch she had by some marvel of package engineering worn in her costume. In a matter-of-fact way, she touched up the black make-up on his face with some from her own small supply, and then dabbed the smudge away with her finger. Obi-Wan was suddenly reminded of a mother wiping a child's dirty face. Then Ravi flashed them both that wicked grin of his and turned his back to them. He paused to adjust the waistband of his snug pants with a slow wriggle, and then walked away down toward the main floor.

Obi-Wan nearly spit out the mouthful of water he had taken to rinse away the drink. Where the seat of Ravi's pants should have been was….skin. Two cheeky patches of taut male backside rose and fell in a naughty little tandem as he walked away. There was nothing but a narrow thong of leather stretched between them. Obi-Wan gulped the water down his throat and some of it caught in his windpipe. He coughed and bent over the table. Ravi must have removed some part of the pants after they had gotten in here, he must have. They hadn't been that way outside. Valia looked at him in alarm as he kept coughing. "Are you all right?" she asked, putting an arm around him, getting ready to pound him on the back. Obi-Wan nodded and waved off her concern. At last he got control of himself. "Did you see…?" Well, she had been putting the make-up away, but how could she not have seen?

"See what?"

"His pants," said Obi-Wan hoarsely. Those pants that said, you know, I really love my arse. Look at my arse. Take a good look at it. Pinch it if you like. In fact, I want you to love my arse every bit as much as I do.

"Oh, those?" Valia cast a seemingly jaded look in the direction Ravi was going. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I shouldn't apologize for his behavior, but I'm really sorry, Obi-Wan. He's going to be a bit of a problem tonight, I have this bad feeling." She reached for another of the many drinks in front of them and sipped it.

" 'Going to be'?" Obi-Wan asked as calmly as he could.

"Yes. He just broke up with a girl, and now he's on the rebound."

" 'Rebound'?"

"Yes, he's looking for someone else to help him forget her."

"I see. I think."

"I'm really glad you came along tonight, Obi-Wan," Valia said, laying a hand on his arm. "I hope you don't mind, but we may end up carrying him home later. If you want to leave now and go back to the Temple, I'll understand. I'm just warning you."

"No, no, it's all right. If you need help, that's even more reason for me to stay."

"But I wanted you to have fun, and see something different."

"Oh, don't worry about the part about me seeing something different."

"I just mean, Ravi can be a bit much sometimes, and if this is going to be too much for you, don't feel like you have to stay."

"What I don't understand is, he must know you're…well, attached right now, so why is he flirting with you? Or is that how he always acts around you?"

Valia's face dissolved into an involuntary chortle. She leaned forward and laughed into her hands. What was so funny? What had he said?

"Ummm, Obi-Wan, I don't know how else to say this, but it wasn't me he was flirting with. It was you."

"Me!"

"I'm afraid so."

"But…I'm not…I can't…you said he'd just broken up with a girl…" He felt heat in his ears and knew they were probably turning pink, as well as his face.

"Here's what you do, Obi-Wan. Just be cool and ignore him."

"But then…that means…is he…?" Obi-Wan was aware there was variety in sexual preferences. But to be the sudden object of this person's attention left him speechless. Valia just nodded. "He likes both, actually. It seems like he can't make up his mind. He'll have a bad time with a man, and he'll swear off men. Then he'll have a bad break-up with a woman, and he'll swear off women. I've seen it before."

"Men and women as very good friends or, ahhh, lovers?"

"Lovers."

"Isn't that just a bit extreme?" He felt a vague disgust, but mostly very young and naïve at the moment.

Valia raised her eyes toward the ceiling and held up her hands in a 'damned if I know' kind of gesture. "You try to figure him out," she said. "Extreme is Ravi's middle name."

Obi-Wan sincerely hoped Ravi's little prowl would find him someone, anyone who would divert all his attention away from himself.

Valia sighed and swirled her drink. "I'm really getting too old for this," she remarked. "I'm probably one of the oldest people here." Obi-Wan scanned the room, and all its wildly varied occupants representing the Core worlds and a good part of the galaxy. He never would have guessed that, or that Valia felt that old in here. But this did seem like the place to lure the young, bored, and carefree. He watched her gazing off beyond the top of the planter, somewhere into space. The soft expression on her face as she rested it on one of her hands gave him a fairly strong clue what, or rather who was on her mind. Obi-Wan found himself wishing Qui-Gon was here, too. He'd probably have a solution to the problem of how to deal with Ravi. But he had been occupied with teaching an advanced saber class, and then had a meeting with a senator. Obi-Wan willed himself to calm down. 'You cannot control other people's feelings toward you,' had been one of the many pieces of wisdom Qui-Gon had given to him. But if you couldn't control others' feelings, what were you supposed to do about it? How was one supposed to handle it?

"Lia, what is that over there?" He had seen a garishly lit up counter that seemed to be a concession stand of some sort. But it didn't look like people were carrying food away from it. There was a line stretching away from the service desk, and the whole area was lit up with purple and blue vertical lume rods on the walls.

She raised her head and turned to look in the direction he pointed. She grinned, her teeth flashing and eyes squinting with humor. "Well, if you need anything tonight, that's where you can buy contraceptives, and protection, and umm, various sexual enhancements."

Obi-Wan stared at the counter again in disbelief. It was all so casual, so open, so---

"You know, like condoms, diaphragms, spice oils--"

"I don't think so," he said stiffly, with a pointed emphasis on the word 'don't'. For just a horrified second though, he had searched the line for someone dressed in black, missing the seat of his pants. "But right in the middle of…?" The dance floor was just meters away from it, and it was crowded with writhing and twisting dancers.

"A lot of places usually sell these things on a small scale out of dispensers, in the restrooms or in corners. But in some of these places there are so many people buying them, for afterwards, you know, it's more than obvious where they are. So the owner figured why not give the people what they want and set it right in the middle of the place?" Valia leaned her elbow on the back of the booth seat and watched the action below. "Only in a place like this would that make any sense, Obi-Wan. Really, it's good business strategy. He's probably making a killing." She nodded at all the customers below.

Moral discussion aside, he supposed the way she explained it, it did make sense. "But doesn't that encourage…I mean, is there, uhhhh, any follow-through going on in here?"

"You mean people having sex in here?" Valia laughed. "Oh, Obi-Wan, I don't know if you're having any fun or not, but now I certainly am." She took another sip of her drink, barely able to manage it with her laughter at his expense. Obi-Wan frowned and patiently waited for her to contain herself so she could speak again. "Well," she finally said, "If you're really good, you can finagle it under a table or in some hidden corner," her voice lowered conspiratorially. "And I'm sure it happens. In fact it's probably happening somewhere right now." She laughed again at the look on his face. "But if you mean is this place really a brothel? No. For that you need a special license, and it has to be in accordance with the zoning laws…"

She rather lost him in her explanation of Coruscant zoning and decency laws. Obi-Wan scanned the room again. Everything he saw seemed so frantic, so pointless.

"Miss me?" Ravi's low voice would have made him jump right out of his seat had he not found the strength of will to remain calm. There he was, smiling at him through the thick fake greenery in the planter behind his left shoulder.

"Ravi, get out of there and leave him alone," Valia scolded. There was a rustling of leaves as Ravi withdrew his head and walked around the planter to the table. "Bossy little thing, isn't she?" he teased. He waltzed back to his seat, and took it, sparing Obi-Wan another eye-full of skin. "I don't suppose that master of yours bosses you around the way she does me."

Obi-Wan chose to treat that question as rhetorical and said nothing. He sat as serenely as he could on the padded bench in the booth, hoping to adopt a pose he thought Qui-Gon would. Qui-Gon no doubt would have looked perfectly comfortable, even in a place like this.

"He doesn't need it the way you do," Valia said.

"Oh, mama, you wound me with your poison darts," Ravi said, clapping one hand over his heart. He reached for another drink on the table. "I suppose it's safe to say you don't dance either?" Ravi addressed Obi-Wan. This time Obi-Wan was watching, and he caught the tell-tale motion in Ravi as he wriggled off his shoe beneath the table. A second later, there was that caressing foot. Somehow Obi-Wan found room to move his leg back again.

"Very safe," said Obi-Wan. When you find a safe, strong position, hold it. Another piece of advice he remembered from Qui-Gon. It had to do with sword and saber fighting, but it might certainly apply here. He wanted Ravi in no position where he could sneak up from behind him without anything between them.

"Not even with the lovely Miss Traxis, here? She's an excellent dancer."

"That's quite all right."

"You definitely have the look of someone who has the strength and grace to be a bodacious dancer," Ravi said, flicking a look over him that suggested he was measuring the size of all his muscles right through his clothes with his eyes. "If you're worried about not knowing how to do the steps, I can teach you," Ravi offered with a hopeful gleam in his eye.

"Uhh, well, no, not in front of all these other people."

"Oh, private lessons?" Ravi's smile widened to display that white grin. "If that's what you want, I'll be happy to arrange that."

Obi-Wan mentally kicked himself for walking into that one. "What I think he's saying, Ravi, is that he doesn't really want to dance with you. Now, or ever." Valia said sweetly.

Ravi put a mock pouting look on his face, complete with soulful dark puppy eyes.

"Well, I love to dance. Love it. I want to dance. Join me?" he asked Valia. She left her seat with a look at Obi-Wan that told him she'd do her best to keep Ravi busy, and walked down to the dance floor with him. Obi-Wan let out a sight of relief and took a drink of water. Now he could just sit back and observe. Club patrons passed his table occasionally and gave him curious looks, but kept going and ignored him for the most part. Maybe they only wondered why he was sitting alone at a table full of drinks. Some of the looks he got reminded him of shoppers in a marketplace assessing a cut of meat. He shifted over to a position where he could see Valia and Ravi dancing on the floor. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her, no matter what else was going on. They were starting group dances below, and the entire floor was packed with patrons moving in unison to a new tune, which was nothing more than a different pattern of thudding.

While Valia and Ravi were gone, Obi-Wan calmed himself more, and was actually able to see some humor in the situation. He could quietly observe yet not be part of this. In his immediate area, he could study other patrons' body language and sense their emotions and auras the way he'd been taught as a child, and by Qui-Gon. Over there, that Trianni woman being hit on by the human male. She was unsure, unfocused from drink. She would probably end up physically giving in to the male's sure and easy advances. At the next table, the flirting, mating games, inane conversation reached his ears. Everyone seemed so uncentered, purposeless. How glad he was he had the strong foundation as a Jedi for his life--

"Have I told you how cute you are?" The voice came out of the greenery again. Just as Obi-Wan had belatedly noticed he didn't see Ravi or Valia out on the floor, there was Ravi leaning against the planter from the other side again. Obi-Wan noticed the very slight slurring in his voice. Here we go, he thought.

"No," said Obi-Wan in a tone of voice that said 'and don't tell me.'

"But what makes you so cute is that you have no idea you are, and you're not trying to be."

Something flared inside Obi-Wan, maybe nothing more than a testosterone surge. Something that was angrily telling him he was all man, through and through. Not something another man would see as some cute little thing. Let go of that anger, he reminded himself. What others think of you does not define what you are. He could nearly picture his master behind his other shoulder, offering bits of advice to counter the little devil on the other side of him.

"Where's Lia?"

"Oh, don't worry about her. She ran into some friends. I won't bite while she's not here to protect you. Really, I won't," he laughed.

"If there's any protecting to be done, that will be my job," Obi-Wan said. "Since her other friend is too busy fooling around, it looks like it will fall on me to do that, if she runs into any kind of trouble. Like someone giving her too much attention she doesn't want, for example."

"I'm not sure, but have I just been insulted?" asked Ravi. "I think there's at least two insults in there," he laughed. "Even your insults are cute. And then there's that Jedi protectiveness. Now that's a turn-on right there."

Obi-Wan snorted. What would it take to turn this guy off?

"You're not drinking anything."

"That's right," said Obi-Wan.

"Well, pass me one of those."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I happen to think it's an excellent idea."

Obi-Wan sighed and picked a drink and handed it to Ravi through the plants. As he fully expected, Ravi touched his fingers as he took it.

"Tell me, why do you wear your hair so short?" Ravi asked.

Wondering where this was going, Obi-Wan answered truthfully. "It's a long-standing tradition in the Jedi Order. Padawans wear their hair short, except for the braid and maybe the tail. When they pass the Trials and become Knights, they can wear it any way they want."

He could almost hear Ravi's teeth-baring smile. "That braid really does it for me. There's something so exotic about it."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. He nearly felt his hair prickling on the back of his head where Ravi was looking at it. His braid was not meant to be exotic. It was like a badge of honor to him. Every few months, when the hair at the base of it grew out, Qui-Gon re-braided it for him. It had become like a quiet ritual for the two of them, something that reaffirmed their relationship. A relationship he was very happy with, thank you very much.

"I'm wondering what the rest of your hair would look like long. Not that I don't think it looks great now. Have you thought of how you'll wear it after your Trial thing?"

Sith, no. That was the least of his concerns. At this point, he could barely get his mind around the Trials themselves.

Ravi expelled a small breath in frustration when Obi-Wan didn't answer. "So what do you think of the crowd here? Anyone catch your fancy?"

"What do you mean by 'catch your fancy'?" Obi-Wan decided to deliberately not understand him.

"Do you see anyone you think is cute? Anyone you want to get to know better?"

"No."

"Come on now, there's got to be five hundred people in here. Someone must look good to you."

"I'm not looking for anyone."

"Everyone is looking for someone. Everyone is looking for love."

Obi-Wan uttered a short laugh. Even at the age of eighteen, he knew this was the last kind of place to look for love. All around him was anything but love. A word came to his mind, a word he had heard Valia use to describe another club. Sleazy. It fit here, too.

"Or are you someone who believes love happens to come along by chance, and if it's right, bites you in the ass?"

Obi-Wan wouldn't have put it so crudely, but yes, he supposed he did. He thought of how his master had fallen in love, and how there had been times it had seemed as though he had gotten bitten by something, all right.

Ravi shook his head, brushing against the fake plants. "Love doesn't happen unless you make it happen, buddy. That's what I believe." Obi-Wan wasn't going to ask him exactly what was involved in 'making' love happen, or argue with him. Ravi pointed to the next level up where a group of about twenty young humans laughed and drank around a large table. "Look at that group over there. Pick the cutest one."

"This is pointless."

"Come on, come on, come on! Humor me."

Obi-Wan sighed and quickly scanned the group. There was a very pretty young woman with long dark brown hair and dark eyes, her head bent close to a friend, laughing over something. "Well, I would have to say that dark-haired girl there. The one with the white, sleeveless dress."

"Ahhh, he goes for the dark-haired beauties." Ravi said with satisfaction. "Wanna meet her? I can fix you up," Ravi bluffed.

"No, but you can go talk to her if you want," suggested Obi-Wan, bluffing back.

"Would you be jealous if I did?"

"Hardly."

"I'd be jealous if you did," said Ravi.

"I'm touched," said Obi-Wan sarcastically.

Ravi went quiet as though thinking of a new tactic to try with him, and finished his drink.

"Like the murals on the walls and ceiling?" Ravi asked.

"I don't really feel one way or the other about them, actually." Obi-Wan had noticed the subtle designs in them that suggested bodies in motion, limbs twined together, glistening orifices, images that might possibly have been obscene, or just random patterns.

"Don't they teach you art appreciation as part of all those years and years of Jedi training?"

"That is if it happens to be actual art," Obi-Wan said dryly. "No, not for its own sake, but it might come up when we're studying a certain world or culture."

"That's amazing, how you get to go to all these places and learn about all these different worlds," he said. "Would you pass me another drink, please?" Obi-Wan didn't argue this time, and handed him one. Again, the finger brushing. "I happen to know the artist who did this work," he said proudly. It fits the particular mood of this place. I like the things he wanted people to see and think of."

"People see anything they want to see if they're looking hard enough."

Ravi laughed and rustled the leaves. "Ahhh, Jedi wisdom. Tell me more. What other wise things do you know?"

Obi-Wan thought frantically for something he had heard Qui-Gon or Master Yoda say. Something Ravi couldn't poke fun at or somehow turn into some sort of seductive comment. It probably wouldn't matter what he said, Ravi would probably take it as sweet nothings he whispered in his ear. Only in this guy's wildest dreams, thought Obi-Wan. Finally he thought of something. "He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened."

"And… are you enlightened, Obi-Wan?"

"I, uuuhh, I'm working on it," he said, shifting in his seat, wondering if he must look as though he was talking to himself, and acutely aware of how close Ravi's face was to his head. He really ought to find Valia, just to make sure she was all right. But then there she was, looking for Ravi. Ravi left the planter abruptly with a loud rustle and walked over to her, innocent as the dawn. She gave Obi-Wan a look as if to ask if he was all right. He waved casually back to her. The two of them headed back to the dance floor.

He could have told Ravi something else he had learned in the Temple: For the uncontrolled there is no wisdom, nor for the uncontrolled is there the power of concentration; and for him without concentration there is no peace. And for the unpeaceful, there can be no happiness. He looked around again at the flirting, come-ons, partial nudity, the high, false-sounding laughter and the searches for happiness in alcohol, stimulants or each other's bodies. Apparently most of these other people thought they were looking for love, too. Qui-Gon would be wanting to discuss what he had seen later, so he observed and memorized details, all the while keeping an eye on Valia as she moved about the dance floor with abandon. He was so removed from this world, so far above all this. His becoming a Jedi Knight was the most important thing in his entire life. The rest of his training and his whole future stretched before him. He renewed his resolve to stay focused on that. Maybe this evening had not been a waste, after all.

It was sometime later when Obi-Wan lost sight of Valia again and was just getting up to go find her when he saw her coming to the table. He read the worry in her face, and in the way she walked.

"What's the matter?"

"I think you'd better come with me. I need help. Ravi's getting out of control."

Great, thought Obi-Wan following her down to the main floor and across it to some larger, more opulent seating areas.

There was a drunken Ravi, surrounded by three large, muscular men. "I think he must have annoyed the wrong person," Valia said, pointing to a tremendously fat patron sinking into a pile of purple and gold velvet cushions. He was watching with avid interest as his bodyguards or assistants appeared to be warming up to rough up the source of his irritation. "I tried sweet talk, but they blew me off."

"I'm glad you didn't try anything else." Good thing she had come to get him. She had wisely stayed out of harm's way.

"Does this happen every time you go out?" asked Obi-Wan, reaching casually down into the side pocket of his pants where his lightsaber was hidden, only to make sure he had unobstructed access to it. He hoped he wouldn't need it, and would do whatever it took to avoid violence.

"No, not quite. I don't think he'd have celebrated this many birthdays if it did," Valia said dryly.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath and boldly stepped forward as one of the men gave Ravi a rude push and made him stumble into one of the others. He stretched his awareness to take in every slight movement of the men around him, and their exact positions. "There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you," said Obi-Wan loudly and indignantly. Ravi stared at him wide-eyed and made a little gasp of joy. He flung himself at Obi-Wan and wrapped both arms and a leg around him, effectively blocking any reach for the saber if he needed it. The arm that wasn't wrapped around his neck slid down his back and Ravi tried to fondle both his buttocks with one spread hand. Obi-Wan shifted like water in Ravi's grip, away from his tightly pressing pelvis. There wasn't much he could do about that groping hand. He didn't move quickly enough to avoid the sloppy kiss Ravi planted on the side of his face, however. The shock of that froze him, and left him wide open for the next kiss, which took him directly on the mouth. Warm and moist, almost slimy, with traces of liquor and a revolting scrape of stubble, it caught him off guard the way nothing else could have done. Ravi ended it with a little flick of his tongue.

It took all his inner strength to act like he was completely happy with all this, and not shove him away in utter disgust and wipe his face. The Jedi directive to serve and protect flashed through his mind. No matter what. He quickly jerked his head aside to prevent a repeat performance from Ravi. He stumbled and regained his footing, reeling in a clumsy dance with him. The three men laughed. "Keep your little pet on a leash next time," one of them said, and they snickered and moved aside to let Obi-Wan half drag and half push Ravi in the direction of the door. Thankfully they didn't seem to be all that ambitious to beat anyone at the moment. Obi-Wan's relief grew with every step they put between themselves and those men.

"My hero," mumbled Ravi deliriously. Obi-Wan pushed him into Valia's arms and gave in to the itching urge to wipe his face and mouth with his sleeve. "Thanks," said Valia.

"Any time," said Obi-Wan. "Well, maybe not."

"Had enough for tonight?" she asked, guiding Ravi out the door and on to the walkway.

"No, can I have another kiss?" piped up Ravi.

"No!" Both Obi-Wan and Valia said.

The End


End file.
